crescent, as a
symbol of faith, for it represents the shape the new world will have and
the road all must travel to reach it, and any who start on the journey
without using this sign will be lost on the way. When the time comes to
depart, I will return to lead you. A great cloud, open in the centre, will
come down from above and surround us all, so that none shall see whither
he goes. Until then those who would go must do as you bid them. All males,
boys or men, must have caps of deerskin with the _daiita ilhnaha_ marked
on them in beads on four sides, and two eagle feathers attached to the
top, ready to wear on the journey. They must also have new shirts,
leggings, and moccasins upon which this figure has been made in black and
white.

[Illustration: Apache Village]

Apache Village

_From Copyright Photograph 1906 by E.S. Curtis_

"The girls and the women must likewise have new clothing, bearing the
sacred symbol, ever in readiness. All their water bottles, burden baskets,
and saddlebags must also bear the sign, and should any desire to ride
horses, only the best, fleet and strong, branded upon the left buttock
with the _daiita ilhnaha_, may be taken. The permanent homes of all people
living in bands under a chief must no longer be scattered, but must be
built close together in long rows, that no time may be lost in assembling
when our Great Father wills that you depart from this life to go to that
where all is peace and plenty. Until that time, which is not far off, you
must conduct yourselves as I have directed, discarding also all old
medicine symbols for the new."

The plain Greek cross and the crescent have been used by the Apache as
decorative and religious symbols from early times, but this recent
adaptation of the combined form came as a sudden wave.

With an unusually strong personality, Das Lan had long been held in fear
by those who knew him best, and with his story of the new messiah he soon
became of great prominence in the tribe. Das Lan first made confidants of
the leading spirits in the various bands, who in turn converted others to
the new faith before public announcement was made. Having won the
strongest men in the tribe through personal appeal to their vanity, the
crafty Das Lan could now remain at home, enjoying the prosperous practice
that grew out of his new cult.

Throughout the reservation those most deeply affected by t